The present invention relates to a dispenser for food or medicine which is capable of storing food, such as gum and candies, or medicine inside and discharging one or a certain amount of food or medicine at a time, and more particularly, to an improved dispenser for food or medicine which is capable of reducing manufacturing costs through productivity of components and convenience in assembly and capable of conveniently discharging contents of food or medicine of a capsule type or a solid type stored inside whenever a button is pressed.
As conventional dispensers for food or medicine, there are Korean Utility Model Registration Nos. 531604, 328700 and 354242 and Korean Patent Laid-open No. 10-2005-0101583 which the inventor of the present invention had invented or devised.
The above-mentioned dispensers have a disadvantage in that they have less sealing effect because an outlet is always open. Moreover, in the case that the outlet is opened and closed by a cover additionally mounted, the dispensers have another disadvantage in that they are inconvenient in use because a user must open and close the cover besides pressing a button in order to discharge food or medicine.
In order to solve the problems of the conventional dispensers, the inventor invented a dispenser which includes: discharging means, which is mounted at an outlet of a base and is capable of slidably opening and closing the outlet; and a retaining piece formed on an inner face of the discharging means and having elasticity, whereby when the user slides the discharging means by fingers to open the outlet, the retaining piece is caught to a retaining member of a rotor so as to rotate the rotor at a certain angle, and the invention has Korean Patent No. 578035.
However, in Korean Patent No. 578035, the dispenser which has the cover slidably opened and closed has several problems in that the outlet is not perfectly sealed because edges of the cover and the outlet are not in elastic contact with each other and in that the dispenser is somewhat inconvenient in use because it discharges the contents by an action that the user pushes the cover aside to open and close the cover.
Therefore, the inventor invented another dispenser which is capable of storing contents such as food or medicine inside and discharging one or a certain amount of food or medicine at a time by simply pressing a button without the action to open and close the cover of the outlet, and which is capable of providing an excellent sealing effect while the contents are not discharged out, and the invention has Korean Patent No. 998,864.
Referring to FIG. 7 showing the structure of the dispenser with Korean Patent No. 998,864, when the user presses the button 700, the rotor 200 which is fit and joined to a central shaft 106 to the inside of a base 100 is rotated at a certain angle so as to discharge food or medicine, which is inserted into an insertion hole 202 formed in the circumference of the rotor 200, to the outlet 102 formed at one side of the base 100. In a state where retaining protrusions 704 formed at right and left of the button 700 is slidably joined to elongated holes 606 of the cover 600 which has a shaft 602 laterally protruding at the right and left upper sides and operating bars 604 upwardly protruding at right and left sides of the top and having the elongated holes 606, the shaft 602 of the cover 600 is rotatably joined to a shaft hole 110 formed at the right and left of the top of the outlet 102, so that when the cover 600 is rotated on the shaft 602 and the outlet 102 is opened when the user presses the button 700.
That is, when the user presses the button 700, the rotor 200 rotates at a certain angle, and at the same time, the retaining protrusion 704 formed on the button 700 slides inside the elongated holes 606 of the operating bars 604 formed at the upper portion of the cover 600 so as to push back the operating bars 604, the cover 600 rotates on the shaft 602 so as to open the outlet 102. When the outlet 102 is opened, the contents inserted into the insertion hole 202 of the rotor 200 moving toward the outlet 102 are discharged to the outlet 102. On the contrary, when the user releases the button 700, the button 700 returns to its original state by a coil spring 714, so that the cover 600 seals the outlet.
Furthermore, when the user presses the button 700, a push rod 702 joined to the button 700 is guided and moved by a guide 310 of a blocking member 300 so as to operate a ratchet 206 formed on the upper part of the rotor 200, and at this moment, the contents inserted into the insertion hole 202 of the rotor 200 are moved toward the outlet 102.
The dispenser in Korean Patent No. 998864 has several effects in that it discharges one or a certain amount of the contents stored inside at a time by the simply pressing action of the button 700 and in that the cover joined to the outlet is opened by the pressing action of the button 700 without any action to open and close the cover joined to the outlet and is closed so as to perfectly seal the outlet when the user releases the button 700.
However, the dispenser in Korean Patent No. 998864 has several problems in that it needs a coil spring 714 for returning the button 700 and the cover, in that it is inconvenient in fitting the button 700 into a button hole 104 because the button 700 has the retaining protrusions 704, and in that it is very difficult to fit and join the elongated holes 606 of the operating bars 604 of the cover 600 to the retaining protrusions 704 so as to excessively increase assembling expenses because the retaining protrusions 704 of the button 700 inserted into the button hole 104 are located inside the base 100 and the blocking member 300.
That is, the dispenser in Korean Patent No. 998864 is very complicated and inconvenient in assembling the operating bars 604, the coil spring 714, the button 700 and the cover 600.